The Recovery Booklet for Mental Health Update

This book has been out in print all summer now. Fifty copies have been sold to the public and the hospital has found a fund to purchase one hundred copies. I am on a bit of a roller coaster of happiness, loss and success.

What is the book about?

This book gives stories, suggestions and support to those that have a hospital visit due to mental illness. It is written by someone who has had first-hand experience as a patient. I hope to make things better for those who are seeking healing. Contributors have also been included in the book which makes the book a rich source of knowledge.

Curiosity

The book gives information about different visits to the hospital. People don’t have to guess as much about what a hospital visit is like. I think this is good. This dispels some of the exaggerated stories of a hardened mental hospital.

Opening information like this to the public gives a sense of empowerment, knowledge and especially a feeling of being included. When things are hush-hush or behind closed doors there can be a feeling of helplessness. I hope the book helps people feel like there are answers to mental health difficulties, and it’s not always professionals that have them. We can help our own mental health. Peers also have answers from their experiences.

How do people get better?

In the book I talk about journals, poetry, exercise, art-work, goal-setting, talking with chaplains, discussions with nurses and more positive steps like these that bring about well-being. These are really tangible things that reach people. We can see our illnesses in a better light. We can get a handle on what we are dealing with, and best of all, we can stay in touch with ourselves.

Getting the message out to the public

The local paper did an article on the book. It’s called, “Woman’s insights helps mental health patients help themselves” by Scott Dunn of the Owen Sound Sun Times. It was great to sit with a professional in the community and talk about hardships and triumphs from hospital stays. It was awesome to hear his concern and his belief in the positive attitude and perspective that the book takes. He especially noticed how complex things were at times. He was impressed that I offered some simple activities in the book to encourage people to give recovery a try.

Meetings, meetings and more meetings…

The hospital has been excellent at coming together to discuss the book. they have been quite welcoming to make the book available in the hospital. There was some red tape at the start. I did not want to make the book fit a lower reading level but in the end I could see why that was important especially when people aren’t feeling well.

Once again, I want to emphasize that members who met with me were supportive and encouraging. This was a much better way to greet professionals. In a lot of ways it’s so much easier to be beneficial from outside the hospital than from inside. Something I had to learn.

The learning continues

I also learned that sometimes the people you want to help actually want to help too. Like me wanting people at the hospital to make conditions better. They knew there were problems and were also looking for some solutions or direction to make things better.

Inspiring others

I hope other people will step forward to take part in activities that help others well-being in the Grey/Bruce community. Informing people is a step in the right direction. People can get involved and make this a better place to live. The diversity in this area is amazing. There is something special about each place. Can you do anything to help people?

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About friendofsnowflake

It is my pleasure to welcome you to my Blog! My name is Melanie and my nic-name Snowflake as you may already know. I'm excited to share some of my ideas and writings with you. It's interesting how psychological concepts can make things a little clearer. I have a psychology degree from the University of Waterloo. It is my hope that I can share some knowledge with you.
Some of my hobbies include playing piano, guitar, drawing and more recently beading. It also really interesting to recieve comments from the amazing people who read my Blog. I hope if you feel inclined that you will tell me a bit about yourself.
I would like to think that some special time spent off the net is also important for you or me. In this time you could sing or dance or just sit with a book.
In the mean-time it's nice to have met you because there is some quality time spent on the net. I hope you have had time to look at your favourite song or look up your favourite author. My favorite song is True Colour by Cyndi Lauper and my favourite author is Gretchin Rubin.
I feel gratitude that I can write this Blog. I hope you come back and see what new Blog is here over time. In the mean time have a great day and stay you!